Environment

Smillie named Hoosier Resilience Hero

Local man recognized for contributing to healthier, more sustainable Indiana

John Smillie has earned recognition from the Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute. He is one of a dozen Indiana residents honored for their dedication to creating a more sustainable and resilient Hoosier state.

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Posted Saturday, April 20, 2024 5:00 am

2024 Hoosier Resilience Heroes

• Juan Carlos Arango, co-owner of Sobremesa Farm, whose small-scale permaculture farm has become a model for small-scale producers interested in regenerative agriculture practices.

• Alex Bazán, sustainability director for South Bend, who is helping the city make significant strides in adopting energy-efficiency practices and solar installations.

• John Blair, founder of ValleyWatch Inc., who has worked to keep large-scale polluters out of Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois for more than 40 years.

• Liz Gore, chair of the Martindale Brightwood Community Development Corp.’s Environmental Justice Collaborative, who has devoted decades of her life to addressing industrial pollution and environmental inequities in northwest Indianapolis.

• Pamela Guerrero, a program and policy analyst with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, who was instrumental in introducing an incentive for local governments to incorporate green infrastructure into wastewater, stormwater and drinking water projects.

• Gwen Halsted, a local facilitator with the Richmond Advocacy Team for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, who draws from her Quaker beliefs to guide her sustainable lifestyle and influence neighbors and elected officials on environmental issues.

Lorrie Heber, former director of the White Violet Center for Eco-Justice, who has worked to cultivate local food networks, conserve wetlands and promote climate action in her community.

• Elena Krueper, a senior at Elkhart High School, who is collaborating with local officials on a climate resolution in her hometown and elevating the environmental reporting of Indiana high school journalists.

• Debbie Palmer, president of Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Fund, who works to preserve Indiana’s second-largest natural lake and its surrounding watershed.

Marianne Peters, director of the Marshall County Recycle Depot, who provides timely recycling and household hazardous waste disposal resources to residents of her county.

• Billie Warren, founder of Jibek Mbwakawen Inc., who bridges Western science with traditional ecological knowledge to promote Indigenous food sovereignty and plant medicine in the Great Lakes Region.

For the Journal Review

Since turning his climate anxiety into action in 2019, John Smillie has become a force for climate-friendly change in his community and beyond.

The Crawfordsville man’s efforts have earned him recognition from the Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute. He is one of a dozen Indiana residents honored for their dedication to creating a more sustainable and resilient Hoosier state — one where the economic and environmental benefits of climate-friendly communities are shared by all.

“Some of our heroes have been working to educate others and address longstanding environmental challenges for decades; others have taken action more recently,” Environmental Resilience Institute Managing Director Sarah Mincey said. “They are all part of a growing network of Indiana sustainability champions who recognize our inextricable dependence on natural systems and who are rallying communities to make positive change. Thanks to these individuals, more Hoosiers recognize that a resilient future and a thriving environment go hand in hand.”

Smillie has served as a climate communicator and educator for Citizen’s Climate Lobby, presenting on proposed climate legislation and federal funding opportunities for climate and sustainability projects relevant to local governments, nonprofits and individuals.

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, he applied his expertise as a financial analyst to help his community understand how investments in solar power, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and more could lower energy costs and reduce local emissions.

As the chair of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County climate team, Smillie has also advocated for building the utility-scale clean energy projects necessary to decarbonize our grid.

When he found out his home was not suitable for rooftop solar, Smillie donated funds for the Montgomery County Youth Service Bureau to install its own solar panels. Since then, he has helped two other community nonprofits go solar and inspired other residents to start a fund for local clean energy projects.